Every year, M&O’s agents seek out and award the up-and-coming underground artists they deem most full of potential, as well as their mentors, so as to offer them visibility and credit their artistic prowess. Today we are reviewing the work of:

Guglielmo Poletti, born 1987, is a Milan-based designer. After completing his basic education he moved to the Netherlands to attend the Design Academy of Eindhoven (DAE), from where he recently got his Master’s Degree in Contextual Design.

Poletti takes pride on his art having a “language” of its own, drawing interpretations on the way he relates functionality to specific contexts. He searches for the essence of objects and aims to bring out its fullest, usually in Poletti’s case, through an “elementary constructivist” point of view. His inspiration often comes about from a single gesture or detail and above all else, maximum curiosity.

This concept of simplicity and movement in Poletti’s artwork speaks for itself, probably the most in his Equilibrium Collection, which was also his graduation project at DAE. In an interview with in-between.online earlier in July he briefly explains the project:

“For my graduation project I worked on two parallel layers, the theoretical one on one side, and the one concerning the making on the other. My thesis explored some philosophical aspects that one often encounters during the process of making, while the outcome itself took shape on its own. (…) ‘Equilibrium’ shows a personal fascination for construction, based on the manipulation of details and small gestures. Simplicity comes as simplified complexity, a search for the heart of the matter and its limit. Tension is not a specific theme I will stick to for the future, but I guess from this project one can get an idea of some aspects that interest me.”

When asked about his opinions about the design industry, he had some interesting remarks to make:

“I haven’t worked with the industry yet. I am still looking for a certain freedom, and the gallery world allows you to do so. I see many experimental young designers around also willing to explore unconventional routes, searching for very personal outcomes. …”

“… If I think of industry, in my opinion the best furniture and lighting companies are still based in Italy, although nowadays the scenario is changing. Many of these companies were family-driven businesses, characterised by a human connection that made the collaborations with iconic designers so powerful. This is slowly disappearing, and without this formula I am not sure what can make a difference. (…)”

Poletti says he has decided to keep experimenting with his skills and continue to design freely, although he still considers Italy to be the place to be for designers looking to thrive in the industry.

“…Certainly the production in Italy is still of extremely high quality, and if I had the chance to work with the industry I’d choose my home country. But I think this might happen later on, as an evolution of my more free work.”

It’s very exciting to see young designers who aren’t afraid to experiment with philosophy and concepts in their visual art and as such, we couldn’t be more thrilled to see Poletti’s display at Maison et Objet this January.

Keep a close eye on ParisDesignAgenda so that you too can get all the updates!